The Maestro's Choice - Mahler's 2nd Symphony (Resurrection) La Scena Musicale - Vol. 8, No. 3 The Maestro's Choice - Mahler's 2nd Symphony (Resurrection) by Yoav Talmi / November 2, 2002 Version française... When asked by La Scena Musicale to share my view with readers about a work of my choice, I chose Mahler's Second Symphony almost instinctively. My forthcoming performances of this giant work in November with the Quebec Symphony Orchestra makes this choice all the more relevant. I "lived" intimately with this work for the past 25 years--but I'm still totally obsessed with the music every time I conduct it. When I conducted this symphony with the Munich Philharmonic in 1980, there were moments in the Finale where--during the softest passages--I was afraid to move a finger, for fear I might disturb the inspiration of the moment. Mahler himself had a special love for his Second Symphony and conducted it thirteen times! He chose it for his memorable farewell concert in Vienna to mark the end of his ten-year reign as director of the Vienna Opera.

This was also the first of his symphonies that he performed in America (in New York in 1908) and the first of his own works that he conducted in Paris in 1910 (saying he could never be accepted in that city until there was a performance of the Second Symphony). Mahler � the Composer versus the Conductor How ironic it is that Mahler, who today enjoys unprecedented popularity all over the world, found such little critical support during his lifetime. He was considered one of the greatest conductors of his time, but as a composer, however, he was regarded mostly as a pretentious failure--not only during his lifetime but also for many years after his death. Yet, like Bruckner, he remained convinced that his "time would come." For almost 50 years after his death, his music seemed to go nowhere and was seldom performed. Now, thanks to the unwavering support of such conductors as Bruno Walter, Otto Klemperer, Jascha Horenstein, John Barbirolli, and later Leonard Bernstein, Mahler's music is recognized as the height of the Austro-German symphonic tradition and the great summation of the late Romantic epoch.

At the same time, Mahler undoubtedly opened the gates for the music of the twentieth century. He had a profound influence on composers such as Schoenberg, Shostakovich and Bernstein, who found in his music powerful expression of hope and faith along with doubts, fears and anguish. There is no question, also, that many of the great film composers of the past 30 years were strongly influenced and inspired by the sounds Mahler created in the Second Symphony's Finale. Why the early rejection? Musicologists explained the early rejection of the Second Symphony as a result of Mahler's new harmonies. Never before had these been found in music. He overstepped the boundaries of what was considered "beautiful." Music critics and concertgoers found his music too long, too complicated, too bombastic, too neurotic, overly melancholy, and so on. Leonard Bernstein, who led the Mahler revival of the 1960s, claimed that "There was something much deeper in the rejection of Mahler's music." He suggested that "Mahler's music simply hit too close to home, touched too deeply on people's concerns and their fears about life and death.

It simply was too true--telling something too dreadful to hear." Fortunately, the above elements, which were so strongly rejected by the musical establishment of Mahler's day, are now passionately embraced by new generations of listeners. His genius lies in his unique ability to draw together such wildly contrasting elements as intense post-Wagner/Strauss/Bruckner harmonies, Austrian peasant music, Jewish childhood motifs, children's innocence, and a distressing fascination with death. He moulds all of them into a convincing and compelling musical structure. A fascinating historical background The story of how Mahler created the Resurrection Symphony (as it is also known) is one of the most fascinating in the history of music, and is indirectly but poignantly connected to Hans von B�low--the greatest German conductor of his time. It is hard to imagine today that a work as powerfully impressive as Mahler's Second Symphony could have had such a painful and prolonged birth, yet more than six years passed between his initial sketches of the first movement and the completion of the vast Finale. Mahler was only twenty-eight in 1888, when he began to toy with the idea for this symphony.

The opening movement was soon completed, but for the next five years it existed independently as "Todtenfeier" (Funeral Ceremony). Three years later, in 1891, Mahler was appointed conductor of the Hamburg Opera and soon attracted the attention of Hans von B�low, the doyen of German music and a lifelong champion of new music. Von B�low conducted the first performances of Tristan und Isolde, became Brahms's preferred interpreter, and "discovered" Richard Strauss. Mahler was hoping that von B�low would similarly support him as a composer. He called on him in order to give a piano rendition of the Second Symphony's first movement. After a few minutes at the piano, he turned around to see von B�low, with a long face, covering his ears. "If what I have heard is music," said the conductor, "I understand nothing about music!" He upped his disapproval by adding: "Compared with this, Tristan and Isolde is a Haydn symphony." Devastated by von B�low's opinion, Mahler wrote Richard Strauss, saying that after his experience with von B�low he was leaving his scores in his desk.

"You have not gone through anything like this and cannot understand that one begins to lose faith," wrote Mahler. Evidently von B�low's rejection was deeply wounding, especially coming from a man the young Mahler so admired. Three years passed before Mahler could overcome his mental block and resume work on the Second Symphony. He completed the second movement, Andante in A-flat, followed by the third, the Scherzo, based on his song "Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt". To the three existing movements he added another of his songs, "Urlicht," for contralto voice and orchestra. It was to serve as an introduction to the final movement. Mahler made many attempts to continue with the Finale, but was could make no progress. Then in February 1894 Hans von B�low died. Mahler attended his memorial service and as he described later, he felt a sense of a shock: "The choir, in the organ-loft, sang the "Resurrection" chorale [by Klopstock].

It was like a flash of lightning, and everything became plain and clear in my mind!" On his return home, he immediately sat down and began the first sketches for the Finale based on the resurrection idea. The actual composition was completed the following summer within three weeks. Von B�low's life and death were catalysts in Mahler's creation of this symphony. If his cruel remarks about the first movement weakened Mahler's confidence, his death effectively removed the composer's mental block and brought him back to the creative process. A transcendent moment Mahler conducted the premiere of his Second Symphony in Berlin on December 13, 1895, under terribly discouraging circumstances: First, in order to finance the concert, he had to use his own funds and borrow money from friends. To fill the hall, tickets were given away to musicians and students from the Berlin conservatory. Some critics refused to attend the concert and to top it all off, on the day of the concert Mahler was struck down by a massive migraine. Nevertheless, he dragged himself to the podium and forced himself to conduct. After the performance he collapsed in his dressing room. What happened during the concert was a transcendent moment in musical history.

Those in the hall knew they were witnessing a once-in-a-life-time experience of creation. The Music Within the limits of this article, I can only touch briefly each of the 5 movements. I remember how utterly overwhelmed I was with the first movement when I heard this symphony for the very first time: It was a dark funeral march that could be compared with those of Beethoven's Eroica or Wagner's G�tterd�mmerung, but far more stormy and dramatic. Bruckner's shadow could be felt over the opening bars, with their long initial tremolos that set the tensed background for the first theme in the cellos and double basses. This angry music is followed by a contrasting, lyrical second theme in the violins, expressing yearning and longing. In a huge development section, Mahler then repeats and modifies both the first and second themes, introducing several new ones and hints of the ancient Dies Irae theme. The entire orchestra ends the movement with a tremendous, shuddering chromatic scale. The second movement, Andante moderato in A-flat major is a graceful intermezzo--much needed after the mighty and disturbing first movement.

It always reminds me of the Schubert Impromptu in A-flat for piano. It is an Austrian L�ndler in the tradition of Schubert and Bruckner, with a middle section that hints of the drama still ahead. Particularly notable is the return of the first theme, now played pizzicato by all the strings, creating a sound of folk mandolins and guitars (Mahler even requested that the musicians hold down the violins and violas like mandolins and pluck the strings with their thumbs). Two frightening tympani strokes announce the opening of the third movement, the Scherzo. The music begins with an endless spinning and twisting of its main theme. In typical Mahlerian manner, this movement evokes a mixture of the grotesque, combined with pessimism, humour, and tragedy. Mahler's program says this movement portrays a distorted world. He deliberately uses shrill, distorted sounds in the orchestra. Near the end, the tension builds to a frenzy as the music depicts to a frightening degree the "scream of anguish"--as Mahler described it in the accompanying program.

Winding down, the movement ends, as did the first movement, with a chromatic scale, this time leading to a final note on the tam-tam, and proceeding to the fourth movement without a pause. The fourth movement-- "Urlicht" ("Primal Light")--is one of the most beautiful and inspiring songs Mahler ever wrote. The appearance, for the first time, of the human voice in pianissimo and a low register is quite staggering. It is music of na�ve faith: "I am from God and will return to God," sings the contralto soloist, who, said Mahler, "should sound like a child who imagines he is in heaven." A solemn chorale, gently stated by the brass, asserts the calm and innocent faith of childhood. Later, an expanded version of this chorale will become the final movement's "Resurrection" theme. The Finale In the wild outburst of the Finale, inspired by Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Mahler too recalls earlier episodes from previous movements. In this colossal movement he introduces sounds and effects never before heard in symphonic music.

The use of a distant band placed in the wings on both sides, the huge crescendos of the percussion section alone, the giant chorus that begins singing in the softest dynamic ever written for choir--all serve this unique creation. Aufersteh'n ("Rise again, yes you shall rise again") opens with the choir in a pianissimo, a cappella rendition in which Mahler introduces his resurrection belief. The composer explained in his program: "The earth quakes, the graves burst open, the dead arise and stream on in endless procession. The trumpets of the apocalypse ring out. All is quiet and blissful. There is no judgment, no sinners, no just men, no great and no small; there is no punishment and no reward. A feeling of overwhelming love fills us with blissful knowledge and illuminates our existence." The last pages of the Finale create an unparalleled, powerful, and triumphant Coda. Mahler brings in the organ, bells, tam-tams, ten horns, six trumpets, and two harps, and asks the conductor and orchestra to end with the "greatest possible strength." It is hard to imagine a more persuasive and magnificent conclusion to the young Mahler's most ambitious work.

This mammoth work will serve as the festive Centennial Concert of the Orchestre symphonique de Qu�bec--Canada's oldest orchestra. For this special event on November 6 and 7, Mahler's Second Symphony will be performed with the largest combined musical ensemble I have ever conducted: 115 musicians and a choir of 250 strong. Recording data There are close to 40 (!) different recordings of this work still on the market, from 1951 until today. Bruno Walter is the only conductor who attended the first performance led by Mahler conducted in 1895 and therefore his recording (with the New York Philharmonic and Maureen Forrester) is a 'must' for me. The closest to my own taste is the passionate yet beautifully balanced Claudio Abbado recording with the Chicago Symphony and Marilyn Horn. The recording by Simon Rattle (Birmingham Symphony) with Janet Baker's magnificent singing is warmly recommended as well. Read More > Close > Notes On the Piece Gustav Mahler was one of 14 children born in an abusive, loveless household.

Some biographers suggest that he suffered from a traumatic upbringing; all of them note that in 1910, he had a session with psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, who suggested that the strange, almost grotesque references to popular songs and dances in Mahler’s symphonies might have something to do with his upbringing. We definitively know, however, that Mahler broke from the norms of conventional four-movement symphonic composition by including folksong borrowings, unusual instruments, radically dissonant harmonies, and solo as well as choral singing. He opened up the boundaries of sonata form—the three-part structure that had dominated symphonic first movements since the early 18th century—and expanded it to enormous, encyclopedic lengths. Like Beethoven before him, Mahler dispensed with the notion that a symphony should comprise instruments alone. No fewer than half of his symphonies are scored with voices in different combinations. The logic of the genre is subverted, sometimes made senseless, as if the composer were trying to tell us that there was no way for him to express himself without making his music incomprehensible.

Philosopher Theodor Adorno thought that it was all too much, and argued, in a devastating indictment, that Mahler’s symphonies were at once profoundly nostalgic and deeply nihilistic. We can, however, look at works like his Second Symphony as a meditation on broader, universal matters of life and death—what Richard Taruskin terms an “eschatological” consideration of “human fate.” The “Resurrection” Symphony has points in common with a Requiem, and it brings together numerous quotations from composers of the 19th century, Beethoven included. The first movement derives from an abandoned single-movement composition called Todtenfeier (Funeral Rite). Of its re-conception, Mahler commented: “I have named the first movement ‘Funeral Rite,’ and, if you are curious, it is the hero of my First Symphony that I am burying here and whose life I am gathering up in a clear mirror, from a higher vantage point. At the same time it is the great question: Why have you lived? Why have you suffered? Is all this merely a great, horrible jest?

We must resolve these questions somehow or other, if we are to go on living—indeed, even if we are only to go on dying!” Answering these questions required Mahler to compose the largest symphony ever made in terms of forces, length, and harmonic boldness. Earsplitting chords of seven different notes are not uncommon, used to astonishing effect in the transition from the middle to the final section of the first movement and throughout the third movement—a musical adaptation of the 13th-century parable of Saint Anthony of Padua preaching to the fish. In Mahler’s setting, Padua’s sermon takes on transcendental force, but the fish, rather than being moved, swim away uncomprehending. The fourth movement is a setting of a text from a German folklore collection (adored by Mahler) called Das Knaben Wunderhorn (The Youth’s Magic Horn), where the alto soloist seeks release from the burdens of life. The fifth movement is blessedly brighter and proposes renewal—the “Resurrection” promised by the title.

Mahler's "Resurrection" | The Philadelphia Orchestra invite a friend 2014-10-30 20:00:002014-10-30 22:00:00America/New_YorkMahler's "Resurrection"“A symphony must be like the world,” Mahler said. “It must embrace everything.” The composer had a close association with The Philadelphia Orchestra: Leopold Stokowski and the Orchestra gave the U.S. premiere of Mahler’s Eighth Symphony (“Symphony of a Thousand”). Mahler’s Second, the “Resurrection” Symphony, is another major choral work, popular in his lifetime, grandly exploring the themes of life and death. Yannick conducts the ensemble along with the Westminster Symphonic Choir, British mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly, and Philadelphia’s Academy of Vocal Arts alumna soprano Angela Meade in this gripping and all-encompassing tour de force.Verizon Hall Friends of the Philadelphia Orchestra Make a gift to the Orchestra’s Annual Fund and support the music you love! symphony no. 2_mahler - 必应 Symphony No.

2 Origin Mahler completed what would become the first movement of the symphony in 1888 as a single-movement symphonic poem called Totenfeier (Funeral Rites). Some sketches for the second movement also date from that year. Mahler wavered five years on whether to make Totenfeier the opening movement of a symphony, although his manuscript does label it as a symphony. In 1893, he composed the second and third movements. The finale was the problem. While thoroughly aware he was inviting comparison with Beethoven's Symphony No. 9—both symphonies use a chorus as the centerpiece of a final movement which begins with references to and is much longer than those preceding it—Mahler knew he wanted a vocal final movement. Finding the right text for this movement proved long and perplexing. When Mahler took up his appointment at the Hamburg Opera in 1891, he found the other important conductor there to be Hans von Bülow, who was in charge of the city's symphony concerts. Bülow, not known for his kindness, was impressed by Mahler.

His support was not diminished by his failure to like or understand Totenfeier when Mahler played it for him on the piano. Bülow told Mahler that Totenfeier made Tristan und Isolde sound to him like a Haydn symphony. As Bülow's health worsened, Mahler substituted for him. Bülow's death in 1894 greatly affected Mahler. At the funeral, Mahler heard a setting of Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock's Die Auferstehung (The Resurrection), where the dictum calls out "Rise again, yes, you shall rise again / My dust". "It struck me like lightning, this thing," he wrote to conductor Anton Seidl, "and everything was revealed to me clear and plain." Mahler used the first two verses of Klopstock's hymn, then added verses of his own that dealt more explicitly with redemption and resurrection. He finished the finale and revised the orchestration of the first movement in 1894, then inserted the song Urlicht (Primal Light) as the penultimate movement. This song was probably written in 1892 or 1893.

Mahler initially devised a narrative programme (actually several variant versions) for the work, which he shared with a number of friends (including Natalie Bauer-Lechner and Max Marschalk). He even had one of these versions printed in the program book at the premiere in Dresden on 20 December 1901. In this programme, the first movement represents a funeral and asks questions such as "Is there life after death?"; the second movement is a remembrance of happy times in the life of the deceased; the third movement represents a view of life as meaningless activity; the fourth movement is a wish for release from life without meaning ; and the fifth movement – after a return of the doubts of the third movement and the questions of the first – ends with a fervent hope for everlasting, transcendent renewal, a theme that Mahler would ultimately transfigure into the music of his Das Lied von der Erde. As generally happened, Mahler later withdrew all versions of the programme from circulation. Symphony No. 2 Publication The work was first published in 1897 by Friedrich Hofmeister. The rights were transferred to Josef Weinberger shortly thereafter, and finally to Universal Edition, which released a second edition in 1910.

A third edition was published in 1952, and a fourth, critical edition in 1970, both by Universal Edition. As part of the new complete critical edition of Mahler's symphonies being undertaken by the Gustav Mahler Society, a new critical edition of the Second Symphony was produced as a joint venture between Universal Edition and the Kaplan Foundation. Its world premiere performance was given on 18 October 2005 at the Royal Albert Hall in London with Gilbert Kaplan conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Reproductions of earlier editions have been released by Dover and by Boosey & Hawkes. The Kaplan Foundation published an extensive facsimile edition with additional materials in 1986. 1899 saw the publication of an arrangement by Bruno Walter for piano four-hands. Symphony No. 2 Instrumentation The symphony is written for an orchestra, a mixed choir, two soloists (soprano and contralto), organ, and an offstage ensemble of brass and percussion. The use of two tam-tams, one pitched high and one low, is particularly unusual; the end of the last movement features them struck in alternation repeatedly.

Woodwinds 4 flutes (all four doubling piccolos) 4 oboes (3rd and 4th oboe doubling English horns) 3 clarinets in B-flat, A, C (3rd clarinet doubling bass clarinet) 2 E-flat clarinets (2nd E-flat clarinet doubling 4th clarinet in B-flat and A) [n 1] 4 bassoons (3rd and 4th bassoon doubling contrabassoon)[n 2] Brass 10 horns in F, four (7-10) also used offstage (preferably more)[n 3] 8-10 trumpets in F and C, four to six used offstage [n 4] 4 trombones Percussion (Requires total of seven players) timpani (2 players and 8 timpani, with a third player in the last movement using two of the second timpanist's drums) Several snare drums 3 deep, untuned steel rods or bells rute, or "switch", to be played on the shell of the bass drum 2 tam-tams (high and low) offstage percussion in Movement 5: bass

 drum with cymbals attached (played by the same percussionist), triangle, timpanum Keyboards organ (used in fifth movement only) Voices soprano solo (used in fifth movement only) alto solo (sometimes credited as and sung by a mezzo-soprano) (used in fourth & fifth movements only) mixed chorus (used in fifth movement only) Strings harps I, II (several to each part in the last movement and possibly at one point in the Scherzo) "The largest possible contingent of strings\ 1st and 2nd violins The first movement – written in C minor – though passing through a number of different moods, resembles a funeral march.

Sorry, your browser either has JavaScript disabled or does not have any supported player. You can download the clip or download a player to play the clip in your browser. The movement's formal structure is modified sonata form. The exposition is repeated in a varied form (from rehearsal letter 4 through 15, as Beethoven often did in his Late String Quartets). The development presents several ideas that will be used later in the symphony, including a theme based on the Dies Irae plainchant. Sorry, your browser either has JavaScript disabled or does not have any supported player. You can download the clip or download a player to play the clip in your browser. Mahler uses a somewhat modified tonal framework for the movement. The secondary theme, first presented in E major (enharmony of F♭ major, neapolitan of E♭), Sorry, your browser either has JavaScript disabled or does not have any supported player. You can download the clip or download a player to play the clip in your browser. begins its second statement in C major, a key in which it is not expected until the recapitulation. The statement in the recapitulation, coincidentally, is in the original E major (F♭ major).

The eventual goal of the symphony, E-flat major, is briefly hinted at after rehearsal 17, with a theme in the trumpets that returns in the finale. Sorry, your browser either has JavaScript disabled or does not have any supported player. You can download the clip or download a player to play the clip in your browser. Following this movement, Mahler calls in the score for a gap of five minutes before the second movement. This pause is rarely observed today. Often conductors will meet Mahler half way, pausing for a few minutes while the audience takes a breather and settles down and the orchestra retunes in preparation for the rest of the piece. Julius Buths received this instruction from Mahler personally, prior to a 1903 performance in Düsseldorf; however, he chose instead to place the long pause between the fourth and fifth movements, for which Mahler congratulated him on his insight, sensitivity, and daring to go against his stated wishes. A practical way of following Mahler's original indication is to have the two soloists and the chorus enter the stage only after the first movement.

This creates a natural separation between the first movement and the rest of the symphony and also saves the singers more than twenty minutes of sitting on stage. One can get an idea of Mahler's intention through a comparison with his 3rd symphony, where - due to the length of the piece - a real break after the first movement (as between two acts of an opera) is highly recommended, and indeed - indicated by Mahler. As in the case of the 2nd symphony, this is not always observed nowadays. The second movement is a delicate Ländler in A-flat major Sorry, your browser either has JavaScript disabled or does not have any supported player. You can download the clip or download a player to play the clip in your browser. with two contrasting sections of slightly darker music. Sorry, your browser either has JavaScript disabled or does not have any supported player. You can download the clip or download a player to play the clip in your browser. This slow movement itself is contrasting to the two adjacent movements. Structurally, it is one of the simplest movements in Mahler's whole output. It is the remembrance of the joyful times in the life of the deceased. Symphony No.

2 Notes ^ According to the instrumentation list in the edition of the Symphony published by Dover, both E-flat clarinets are doubled in ff where possible, but there is no indication of this in the score itself. ^ At no point does the score require two contrabassoons. In the first four movements, the third bassoon alternates on the contrabassoon, and in the fifth movement a fourth bassoon is added to the ensemble, which is assigned the doubling of the contrabassoon (presumably for convenience of writing the score). ^ At rehearsal number 3 in the fifth movement, "as many as possible, at great distance". Horn 7-10 return to the orchestra after number 31. (and start playing after no. 46) ^ At one point in the fifth movement, rehearsal numbers 22-25, there are two off-stage trumpet parts in F and C with multiple instruments on each part, according to the score playing from as furthest a distance as possible, which utilize players other than parts 1-6 of the orchestra. Later, four trumpet parts are used off-stage, which the score states are played by parts 3-6.

In this passage, the score states that the four trumpets must play from opposite sides: the horns and offstage trumpets 2 and 4 on the left side and parts 1 and 3 on the right. For the final minutes of the symphony, the on-stage trumpets are to be joined with "reinforcement" players, presumably using the off-stage musicians from the section starting at rehearsal number 22. The figure of 8 total players assumes that in this passage only one trumpeter is playing on each of the two offstage parts, while the high-end figure of 10 assumes 2 on each part. It is probable, however, that Mahler would have preferred even more players in this section than allowed by the "ten" he indicated in the score, especially as he wrote "mehrfach besetzt" rather "doppelt besetzt" for the passages at rehearsal numbers 22-25 (that is "multiple to the part" rather than simply "doubled"), and as the indication for "reinforcement" applies to all six trumpet parts. The Philadelphians in Concert on WRTI: Mahler's Profoundly Moving 'Resurrection' Symphony, Aug.

2nd | WRTI The Philadelphians in Concert on WRTI: Mahler's Profoundly Moving 'Resurrection' Symphony, Aug. 2nd By Gregg Whiteside • Jul 30, 2015 Related Programs: Tweet Share Google+ Email Soprano Angela Meade is one of the soloists featured in WRTI's re-broadcast of Mahler's Second Symphony performed by The Philadelphians. What became known as the "Resurrection" Symphony, Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2 is one of the longest, most ambitious, and profoundly moving orchestral works ever composed; its unusual impact and philosophical import have been recognized ever since Mahler conducted the premiere in Berlin in 1895. The Second Symphony seems to have held a special place for Mahler as well, since he chose it as the first of his symphonies that he conducted in Vienna, and also as his farewell there in 1907. Listen Zubin Mehta conducts Mahler: Symphony No. 2, "Resurrection" Sir Simon Rattle: Turnage, Mahler London Symphony Orchestra Jan. 19, 2017, 7:30 p.m.

Gianandrea Noseda: Williams, Copland, Bernstein an... The Kennedy Center Jan. 22, 2017, 8 p.m. Daniel Barenboim: Bruckner's Symphony No. 9 Carnegie Hall - Daniel Barenboim Jan. 29, 2017, 7:45 p.m. All the live webcasts Daniel Barenboim: Bruckner's Symphony No. 3 Philharmonie de Paris - Philharmonie 1 - Daniel Barenboim Jan. 7, 2017, 8:30 p.m. Master Class: Gautier Capuçon – La Classe d'Excell... Fondation Louis Vuitton Jan. 7, 2017, 10:30 a.m. Daniel Barenboim: Bruckner's Symphony No. 2 Philharmonie de Paris - Philharmonie 1 - Daniel Barenboim Jan. 6, 2017, 8:30 p.m. Daniel Barenboim: Bruckner's Symphony No.

1 Philharmonie de Paris - Philharmonie 1 - Daniel Barenboim Jan. 5, 2017, 7:30 p.m. Christian Thielemann, Nikolaj Znaider: Reznicek, ... Staatskapelle Dresden Dec. 31, 2016, 4 p.m. Tchaikovsky, Nureyev: Swan Lake Opéra national de Paris Dec. 9, 2016, 5 p.m. Still available in delayed streaming Mahler's Apocalyptic Second Symphony : NPR Mahler's Apocalyptic Second Symphony *a weekly guide to essential classics* Ted Libbey And Fred Child Recommend Mahler's Symphony No. 2 Embed Embed December 29, 200912:00 AM ET Ted Libbey Symphony No. 2 in C minor ("Resurrection") [Movement 5] 38:34 Embed Embed <iframe src="" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Gustav Mahler , not long after completing the Symphony No.

2, said, "The term 'symphony' means creating a world with all the technical means available." The Resurrection Symphony is an all-embracing work, the first of the Austrian composer's symphonies to make use of voices and words as well as the orchestra, and the piece that set him decisively on the path toward the grandly scaled, high individualist and confessional style of symphony that was to become his legacy. It was also the composition that brought Mahler his first fame, and its premiere in Berlin on the night of Dec. 13, 1895 (staged with the help of Richard Strauss ), marked the real beginning of Mahler's career as a composer. Symphony No. 2 is the work with which Mahler answered the metaphysical challenge of Beethoven's Ninth. There are a lot of similarities along the way — the turbulent beginning, the vast exploration of musical territory in the middle of the work and the triumphant conclusion. In the final movement, all 38 and a half minutes of it, the ramparts are being climbed and the noise and confusion of battle surround you.

Using off-stage instruments to explode the musical space was one of Mahler's favorite devices, and trumpets sound from different sides of the stage in this movement. He engulfs the listener in something beyond the reaches of the concert hall. Article continues after sponsorship Mahler, To The Limit Leonard Bernstein 's is an apocalyptic vision. This is the Resurrection taken to the limit, and then well beyond. It may not be a reading to everyone's liking, but it is certainly an experience, and there's no question of the performers' commitment. It makes sense to have Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic represent Mahler. The New York Philharmonic was Bernstein's orchestra — and it was Mahler's, too. He spent two years with the Philharmonic from 1907 to 1909. His conducting was intense, impassioned, revelatory and very physical — a frenzied, sublime communion with the music. Leonard Bernstein's body language was similarly dramatic, and his 1987 performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 2 is extraordinary. Related NPR Stories A Mahler Symphony on a piano (or two)?

| Theme & Variations Piano Services Theme & Variations Piano Services Home > News & Events > News > A Mahler Symphony on a piano (or two)? News & Events Posted on August 30, 2011 Leave a comment No comments yet Pianist Stephen Emmerson discusses the Symphony and the upcoming performance upon two pianos with Angela Turner, Brieley Cutting and Stewart Kelly in the Commercial Road Chamber Music Series. This is a work that “has it all” and a very rare opportunity to hear this symphony in this arrangement. As far as we can ascertain, this will be only the second time this has been performed in Australia . We welcome admirers of the symphony to come and see what they think, and hope that lovers of chamber music will share this wonderful experience with us. We’re looking forward to performing this work again immensely. Stephen Emmerson, Angela Turner, Brieley Cutting and Stuart Kelly will perform Mahler’s Symphony No.2 “Resurrection”, Friday 9 September at 7pm at the Theme and Variations showroom, 60 Commercial Road , Newstead, Brisbane. Phone (07) 3666 0650 for bookings.

2011 marks the 100th anniversary of the death of composer and conductor Gustav Mahler (1860-1911), with his music featured in centenary festivities around the world. Mahler’s larger-than-life second Symphony – also known as the “Resurrection” – has long been a favourite for Australian audiences. Combining massive orchestral forces, with vocal soloists and large chorus, the work is ambitious in scale; even among the Mahler symphonies, it has a character and, ultimately, an optimism that is all its own. Some people may be horrified by any attempt to perform a Mahler symphony on a piano. Is not his remarkable orchestration an essential part of his symphonic language and its appeal? And particularly the 2nd symphony with its overwhelming choral finale, how could that be done without a choir, not to mention without a great resounding brass section? Only perhaps a very brave or foolhardy pianist would try to perform such music in public. There is a piano-roll recording that has been released on CD of Mahler himself playing the first movement of his fifth symphony on the piano.

It’s a fascinating document but the complexity of most symphonies goes beyond what can be transcribed satisfactorily for a mere ten fingers. (Liszt’s extraordinary transcriptions of Beethoven and Berlioz symphonies are exceptions but they are so horribly virtuosic that most performances are more likely to evoke sympathy for the pianist than a fresh engagement with the music.) To make arrangements more manageable, most symphonies throughout the 19th century were commonly transcribed for piano duet, that is, for two players at one piano. Before radio and recordings, this was the best way to become familiar with symphonic music without leaving home. For performance outside of a domestic setting, arrangements for two players on two pianos are an even better option and Mahler himself arranged a number of his symphonies for that combination. But with the 2nd symphony, “The Resurrection”, even four hands on two pianos would be stretched to cover the material and delineate clearly all the various lines. However, in 1914 Universal Edition published a version of the work for two pianos but with eight hands, that is, with two pianists on each piano – a double piano duet, as it were.

It is remarkable how satisfying familiar symphonies can be when transcribed for the sounds of a piano. Even without the palette of orchestral colours, the ability of a piano to evoke orchestral sonorities can in fact be surprisingly effective. Such arrangements allow one to hear symphonic works from a fresh perspective. The melodies harmonies and rhythms remain, as do the musical gestures, the infectious dance rhythms, the sense of forward drive and momentum, the clear but surprisingly complex contrapuntal textures, not to mention the anguish, the joy, the purity, the transcendence … all these essential elements of Mahler’s music remain in a form that need be no less dramatic or expressive. On pianos, it may be less grandiose (less bombastic some might say) but then, conversely, it may become more intimate, with more of the personal qualities of chamber music, that allow us to hear it afresh. As Mahler famously said, a symphony must be like a world and this symphony has all the richness and variety of a world complete unto itself. There is that overtly dramatic first movement, followed by a second movement of disarming charm and simplicity.

The third, a scherzo based on material from one of his Wunderhorn songs about St. Anthony preaching to the fishes, abounds in delicious irony. The fourth movement “Urlicht” (Primeval Light) may be, my humble opinion, the most divine song ever penned and the fifth-movement finale should be nothing less than overwhelming. Angela Turner, FinePrint, Music Printing & Typesetting, Website: Leave a Reply

Question: Which composer's second symphony is known as The Resurrection Symphony'?
Answer: Gustav Mahler